...When suddenly, Christmas snuck up and bitch slapped me.

(Per Manda's request, I'm posting something new. :) And I kind of wanted to post, considering it's been way too long. Again.)

The holidays came and went too quickly. With Matt and Jen's wedding, rearranging the house for little Aidan's arrival in a month (what?!), moving Tim into his new condo, and celebrating good ol' Christmas, it's been a big, swirling blur of stress and euphoria.

I can't believe I didn't write a single thing about the wedding! It was, by far, the most fun I've had at both a ceremony and a reception. Matt and Jen both were glowing the entire night - they're finally hitched!! My cousin, Ryan, and I stood up together. Quick side note (or not so quick): Ryan and I were together all the time as kids. I learned many valuable lessons through his generous outpouring of wisdom, such as the bottom of Uncle Danny's swimming pool doesn't smell like raspberries no matter how hard you sniff, and filling an empty beer can with the shavings from leftover 4th of July sparklers and lighting a match results in both pretty colors and scaring the bejesus out of Aunt Shar. We haven't seen each other in a year or more because he had to move to North Carolina, so putting us together for the wedding was either a decision made out of love or complete idiocy.

He made faces at me to get me to laugh during the entire ceremony. And, at one point, he came up to me and said "Pam, I don't know how to tell you this, but I think your sister is pregnant." Mind you, she's 8 months along.

During the bridal party dance, Ryan and I were together while my cousin Johnny and Meghan danced next to us. We made a quick decision to switch partners, so that Johnny and Ryan could seductively dance with one another, while Meghan and I danced together laughing our asses off. It turned into quite a trend - by the end of the bridal dance, everyone had switched partners to dance with either a relative or someone of the same sex (or both!). The older generation present at the reception was so pissed that we messed up such a lovely tradition, while the rest of us laughed so hard we were crying.

Tim looked meow meow meow in his uniform (as Manda would say - two paws up!). It's the first time I've seen him in his blues, and I wasn't disappointed at all *wink*. We're both such awkward slow dancers though - there were definitely bruised toes by the end of the night. But, those are the little things that I wouldn't trade for the world.

So yes - much love, laughter, and rum and coke at the wedding. Awesome.

Christmas was amazing as always. This was the first Christmas in probably two or three years that I felt "comfort and joy." Keeping all the gifts low-key, spending time with both my family and Tim's family (including his unbelievably fun little cousins) - as cheestastic as it is, it was nice to kind of count my blessings. It's been a rough year, so when things slow down a bit, I have to sit back and smile.

Tim is officially moved into his new condo!! The place looks gorgeous. Helping him unpack has been one of my favorite Tim and Pam memories to date. There's nothing like going through old photographs together, learning little things about him that even after a year of dating I still don't know (although the best moment was when he pulled this squished, crusty, missing-one-eye and overly loved crocodile from a box, saying "This is Izod!" I'm giggling just thinking about it). I'm just scared, because I promised him he could look through my old pictures - he's going to see Pam in her chunker "I don't care how I look" days. Yikes.

It's kind of fun to find all the little things that aren't quite right with the place. For example: he went to take a shower yesterday, and at one point I hear the quiet running of the water, and then I hear a strong gushing like the Mississippi just burst through a dam. Turns out the faucet came undone and flew across the bathroom.

Despite all of this, it's actually been a very slow couple of weeks. My hours at work were cut, and most people are busy around this time of year, so I haven't really seen many of my friends. I'm missing them all terribly...

Well, I believe that's all for now. I'm going to go do some research, and then knit a baby blanket. Oh yeah. That's how I roll, G.

Happiness is...

A warm blanket.

A sleeping cat at the end of your bed (and no, he's not plotting my demise).

A cup of wild sweet orange tea.

A cuddle bug curled up on the couch with you.

Episodes of The Office.

Emerson and Huxley - all in one day.

Pirate pictures on cell phones that talk.

Leftovers from Thanksgiving day.

A quick kiss on the cheek while walking through a store.

An epic battle between the Hiphopopotamus and the Rhymenocerous.

Sleep deprived, slap-happy moments.

Dragon tears/Jelly beans.

Willow tree collectibles.

Penguins.

Panic buttons that don't do much other than scream "PANIC!!!!" when you push it.

Bumping into old friends randomly at the Apple store.

Convincing friends that the bird actually really isn't the word. It's "your mom."

Sore fingers from playing the guitar too much.

Not doing homework for a day - even though that might be a terrible idea.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-kjM1asH-8 Horrible Sarah Palin moments that make you cry for her and laugh hysterically at the same time. Sweet Moses.

Finding mushy notes from his boot-camp days tucked in a drawer.

More to come later...

I suck at posting

Seriously, I really wish I would blog regularly. I need to jump on that productive train.

I've been doing a lot of reminiscing lately. Ever since Matt and Jen's wedding, watching family come and go quickly, celebrating Thanksgiving with Tim for the first time...I've really had time to seriously sit down and think about where the past year has brought me. I've lost a lot of friendships, and I've seen a lot of people leave my life that I thought I could never live without (some actually physically moved away, while others just faded into the background). But, you know, I got through everything in one piece, and I'm such a better person now because of all of it.

It all really hit me when I was driving with Tim from his family's place to my family gathering yesterday. At this point last year, I was having massive arguments with members of my family, my significant other didn't even want to spend time with my side for Thanksgiving, my job was looking less than promising, and my grades were slipping terribly because of the amount of stress that I was under. And yesterday? I got to show Tim's little cousins how to draw an angry fish/shark (wish I'm sure their parents will "thank" me for later), I got to hold the newest member of the Brown family (little Dillan), I realized that this time next year I'll be playing constantly with my little nephew, and I got to spend the entire day with my best friend. Over the past year, I've practically finished up my undergrad (one year left, baby!), I found a new job that is getting me through and is actually worthwhile, and I've made some new friends that are freakin' awesome.

Yeah. Good stuff.

Life is really a bitch sometimes. But I'm a firm believer in the whole "what doesn't kill you makes you stronger" catch phrase. And frankly, I'm glad that I went through all of the nonsense, because that means that I can actually appreciate what I have now.

So, long story short, I'm really thankful. It's always nice to have a moment to sit back and count the blessings in your life.

Seriously?

http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081104/METRO/811040369

If these protesters were to drop off the face of the earth in 2.5 seconds, I would be quite content.

The Laramie Project is one of the most moving plays I have ever seen. If you believe that homosexuality is a sin, I can understand that - but discrimination in any case is wrong, especially if it leads to violence such as the brutal beating and ultimate death of Matthew Shephard.

Here's the deal: do you really think that Jesus would want you to do this to another child of God? Do you really think that in the Bible you can find justification for the cruelty that is forced upon people? Do you really think that you are so far superior to everyone else, that God holds you so high up in his favor, that you can tell people exactly what his plan is and how they don't fit into it?

So, attention all protesters in this group. Here's the truth from one Christian to another: You're not God. You're not Jesus. And no matter how long you study the Bible or any Church doctrine, you will never fully understand all of the complexities of it. You're doing nothing but promoting the kind of divisiveness that has torn this world to pieces (not to mention you're making yourselves look like a bunch of pompous, arrogant, self-righteous people who spend more time holding a picket sign than actually doing something that might make this world a better place to live in). Do us all a favor - shut your mouths, throw out your signs, and spend all that time and energy that you would have wasted and build a community center, tutor a child, or work with the homeless.

Jesus befriended prostitutes and tax collectors. Chew on that for a while.

Upset moments

So, today was one of those rather emotional days. For starters, mass today was a celebration of All Souls' Day where we pray for all those that have passed away. I know a mass like this shouldn't upset me, because it's more of a celebration of our loved ones "going home" than a day to grieve. But still, I can't help but feel a twinge of sadness - there are so many people that have passed away in my life that I miss with all of my heart. I wonder if they're proud of me, you know? I guess that's what everyone thinks when they lose someone...

My brother, Matt, is officially moving out this week (considering his wedding is in six days). Pretty much all of his stuff has been packed up today. This hit me way harder than expected. I've been fighting tears all day. He's been the mediator in my family ever since Julia and I could fight (which started at a very young age). He's always been a person that I could talk to, especially when things started to get crazy and too much for one person to handle. We've never really been apart for longer than a month. Now he's leaving...God, this sucks.

Last, but certainly not least, my grandparents came over today and said "I have something for you." They handed me a folded up piece of paper...turns out it was a photocopied picture of me from the Michigan Catholic article, with the whole quote about how I was undecided circled. Underneath that, they had stapled an article about how abortion is the worst evil in the world, and they listed all the reasons why voting for Obama would be playing into this sort of "evil." It's kind of funny, really. I could get into comparing the whole treatment of the different siblings, but it's not worth it - the long and short of it is this is bullshit.

You know, I could feed hundreds of people, clothe every naked person on the planet, and cause a revolutionary spur to let no one live without health care, and it still wouldn't be good enough to some because it's either too liberal, too conservatie, the wrong religion, the wrong reasons, and so on.

This whole day feels hopeless. I need hot chocolate and a puppy. But instead, I'm going to go work on a paper. Ciao.

Daily

So, here are some fun lil' daily updates.

In a single shift at Caribou, I discovered the full spectrum of human kindness - from the one end consisting of kindness to the opposite where the bitches from the depths of hell reside. One guy brought the Bou staff some super yummy cinnamon rolls. Another guy decided to compliment my "beautiful blue eyes" while I was fixing up his latte (and no, he wasn't hitting on me)....Then I had a woman who I have never met before roll her eyes and tell me that I should know her drink even though I have never met her, and she refused to tell me what her drink consisted of. This same woman was at least in her 60s, and she tanned so much that she looked like her face was going to melt off. Yucko.

I'm telling you, if you want to learn what humanity really consists of, work a few morning shifts a week at the Bou. Forget classes on psychology - just deny people their turtle mochas and watch their eyes start twitching.

My mom and I spent some good ol' quality time together today, which just about never happens. We had a lot of errands to run to finish preparing for Matt and Jen's wedding in a week. It was great - dinner at Pei Wei, running to a couple of Hallmarks...I've been deprived of time with my mom ever since Julia became prego the momma fish and Matt's wedding date was set. I didn't even realize how much it affected me until today. It was bittersweet, really.

A while ago, Manda, Chris and I got together and watched "The Hills Have Eyes" together. I'm telling you, that movie scared the bejesus out of me the first time I saw it, and after watching it this time, I was still terrified. But you know, the scary parts were definitely minimized when everytime something happened, Manda screamed and her dog started hopping around barking. Needless to say, I hope we watch more freaky movies soon. :)

Tim and I went to Tillson street in Romeo on Thursday. All the houses on that street decorate every inch of their property with various Halloween themes. One house actually had a full pirate ship, complete with pirate skeletons and everything (and yes, he made the ship himself). It was a nice little date - it was kind of like walking through a downtown area when all the Christmas lights are up, just a bit more twisted. At one point, when Tim and I were playfully bickering, I went to go and kick him in the side...the only problem was that we were still holding hands, so I ended up kicking myself in the hand. Yeah. Tim won't let me live that one down.

...Yeah, that's all for now.

Bible Songs

So I'm looking up songs to sing tomorrow at a prayer service for the mentally disabled, and I discovered that some children Bible songs are some of the most ridiculous things EVER.

1. "Be Above It, Never Covet."
2. "Be True to Your Mate, Mate."
3. "Don't Bow Down to Idols"
4. "Choose Your Daddy."
5. "I'm gonna feed (500 mouths)" - And yes, it is a parody of "I would walk (500 miles)" by the Proclaimers
6. "Get Found Tonight" - Heck yes. It sounds like "Get Down Tonight" by K.C. and the Sunshine Band
7. "Tis so Sweet to Trust Jesus"

Enjoy. I sure did.